breeding programs

• a breeding program is a planned breeding group of animals with the purpose of ensuring genetic variation in captive populations
• what traits of cows may be desirable for offspring to inherit?

  birthing ease, carcass weight, gestation length
• inbreeding coefficients give the genetic probability of how closely related two individuals are. a higher coefficient means closer relationships
• inbreeding depression can result from inbreeding, meaning inherited diseases are more likely to occur
• the selection response is how much you gain after two parents have mated or how much the population is considered to have improved